Is Howie Roseman a turnoff in Eagles coaching search?

Jon Gruden and Eagles general manager Howie Roseman have both been drawing questions -- in different ways, says Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports.

PETER MUCHA

Jon Gruden and Eagles general manager Howie Roseman have both been drawing questions -- in different ways, says Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports.

Gruden has been contacted by four clubs about their head-coaching jobs -- and has turned them all down, the "NFL Insider" reports, not naming names.

Roseman, on the other hand, is being whispered about around the league as a hindrance to the Eagles landing a top-notch coach, La Canfora wrote this morning.

As of 10 days ago, Gruden hadn't spoken with the Eagles, according to ESPN analyst and ex-Eagles quarterback Ron Jaworski.

Since then, Gruden has been widely endorsed for the Eagles job not only by Jaworski, but former Eagles coach Dick Vermeil, NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock, former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, and Inquirer columnist Phil Sheridan.

And Gruden would be interested in the right job.

"He would have loved a shot at the Carolina job, the chance to work with [quarterback] Cam Newton," La Canfora said Sunday on NFL Today.

But still no word on an interview invite from the Eagles -- though younger sibling Jay Gruden, offensive coordinator of the Cincinnati Bengals, was slated for an interview with the Birds today.

That will push the list on interviewed candidates up to at least 10, with Indianapolis offensive coordinator Bruce Arians scheduled for Tuesday.

"Meandering and bizarre" is how La Canfora characterized the Eagles search -- even though team owner Jeffrey Lurie warned the world the process could be protracted.

Lurie's conducting the search with Roseman and team president Don Smolenski, but Roseman's the one in La Canfora's bull's-eye.

"I wish I had a dollar for every time someone told me one esteemed coach or another advised one of the Eagles' top candidates not to take the job precisely because of Roseman's presence there," he wrote on www.cbssports.com this morning.

Note the gossiplike reporting: No candidate or "esteemed coach" is directly quoted or named as a source, and all the insinuations seem to no better than second-hand.

Yet no holds are barred.

"The rumblings about Roseman lacking nuance and foresight, about him turning people off with how drunk with power he's become, only grow louder as his coaching search grows stranger," La Canfora writes.

"Roseman isn't the general manager they should tie their wagon to," he continues. "It's clear Chip Kelly wasn't leaving Oregon for anywhere unless he had a large measure of control over the organization, and owner Jeffrey Lurie has already entrusted that to Roseman. There has been trepidation by some candidates to go all-in given the questions about this existing power structure."

Roseman is also "trying to fight a growing perception around the league that he is woefully out of his depth," La Canfora says.

During a rundown of questionable moves in recent years, La Canforda fails to make clear how Lurie absolved Roseman of blame for decisions made before last year.

Note also that of the eight head-coaching vacancies, only three have been filled -- and not one by anyone the Eagles already interviewed.Unless you go back to 1999 and count fired head coach Andy Reid, who signed on with Kansas City.___Distributed by MCT Information Services